Hi again. Sorry for my little necro, but I've found some interesting trivia.
The PC-98 (C-Bus) version of Creative's SB16 included the OPL3, but had an optional socket for an OPN!
This was for backwards compatibility, because the OPN was the PC-98's equivalent to our AdLib.
In a platform sense, I mean. We started with OPL2 rather than OPL (OPL1).
Here's what a Japanese website says (machine translation) :
Manufactured in February 1994. Sound Blaster 16 was very popular in the overseas IBM PC compatible market and was essential for both DOS and Windows games. However, in the PC98 market in Japan, there was the NEC PC-9801-86, which had expanded functionality while ensuring compatibility with the NEC genuine sound board (PC-9801-26K), which was already becoming popular. This was a minor presence.
In fact, very few PC98 version MS-DOS compatible software/games are compatible with this sound board, and it is of little use under DOS. However, limited to Windows 3.1 and 95, the PCM recording and playback function was surprisingly more stable than the 86 sound source.
If you install the optional Advanced Signal Processor (model number: SB-ADSP/J), you can use ADPCM hardware encoding when recording. In addition, by installing YM2203 and YM3014 (model number: SB-YM/J), you will be able to use the sound function compatible with PC-9801-26K, increasing its use for PC98 games. The MIDI sound source daughter board WaveBlaster can also be installed. [..]
sb16_cbus_a.jpg
sb16_cbus_b.jpg
Source: http://radioc.web.fc2.com/column/pc98bas/ct2720.htm
So in reverse, wouldn't it be just "fair" to make the OPN or OPNA available on ISA bus, too? 😺
I could imagine, it could eventually be useful for restoring PC-98 sound on the DOS or DOS/V ports of some popular titles.
Or simply lets us IBM PC users have something new old to develop for.
It would also be useful for a PC-98 emulator that runs on DOS (DOS/V) or Windows 3.1x.
Speaking of Windows 3.1x, a few early Windows 3.1 games did talk directly to the PC-Speaker (Jiji) or OPL2 (Warpath! etc).
Doing same with an OPN-based AdLib clone would be possible for sure.
So we could play with OPN on 16-Bit Windows, too, maybe write a composer for it.
Edit: Here's the PC-98's AdLib or Sound Blaster counterpart, so to say. The PC-9801-26K. It even used the LM386 amp.
pc-9801-26_a.jpg
pc-9801-26k_b.jpg
Source: http://radioc.web.fc2.com/column/pc98bas/pc980126k_en.htm
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